Medical devices, such as electrical stimulators, may be used in different therapeutic applications, such as deep brain stimulation (DBS), spinal cord stimulation (SCS), pelvic stimulation, gastric stimulation, peripheral nerve stimulation, cardiac rhythm management, and functional electrical stimulation. A medical device may be configured to deliver therapy to a patient to treat a variety of symptoms or patient conditions such as chronic pain, tremor, Parkinson's disease, other types of movement disorders, seizure disorders (e.g., epilepsy), urinary or fecal incontinence, sexual dysfunction, obesity, mood disorders, gastroparesis or diabetes. For example, an IMD may deliver an electrical stimulation therapy such as cardiac pacing, cardiac cardioversion/defibrillation, neurostimulation, muscle stimulation, or the like.
An implantable medical device may provide electrical stimulation therapy according to a set of stimulation parameter values, which may also be referred to as a therapy program. A therapy program may define respective values for each of a plurality of electrical stimulation parameters, e.g., as specified by a clinician. In some cases, the medical device may receive one or more therapy programs from an external medical device programmer operated by the clinician. In addition, in some cases, a patient also may be equipped with a medical device programmer and may interact with the programmer to select or modify therapy programs for delivery of stimulation.
Examples of implantable medical devices that deliver electrical stimulation include implantable neurostimulators, implantable cardioverters, implantable cardiac pacemakers, implantable cardioverter-defibrillators, and cochlear implants. Such devices may be implanted or external to a patient, and configured to deliver electrical stimulation therapy to and/or measure a signal from a target tissue site within the patient. The electrical stimulation may be delivered to the tissue site via electrodes, some of which may be located on a device housing and/or on one or more implantable leads.